


Fruit Baskets

by Kileykao



Category: Critical Role (Web Series) RPF
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:05:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21626314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kileykao/pseuds/Kileykao
Summary: (He downloads the app a week to the day after he visits the doctor while sitting in his car in the parking lot of his son’s school, waiting for him to be let out of class and he has fifteen minutes to kill. He enters his information and it tells him his baby is the size of a blueberry.)(He thinks about that for the rest of the day, his hand resting on his stomach every time he has just a moment alone. It somehow makes it feel more real.)
Relationships: Liam O'Brien/Sam Riegel
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	Fruit Baskets

**Author's Note:**

> Posted as a fill to the kink meme prompt.

Being an omega isn’t something that Sam likes to think about. He’s never really wanted to be one; he’s always been someone who would rather steer clear of Alphas, than someone who would willingly submit to one. He went on suppressants the first chance he got, and as soon as he presented he bought scent blockers and hasn’t stopped using them since. 

Which is why Sam is pretty sure the number of people who actually know that he is an omega is in the single digits. He doesn’t need to share that part of him with anyone but the people who absolutely need to know. He’s gone about his life almost ignoring it for the longest time. He’s married to the most beautiful woman he’s ever met — and in a way married to the most beautiful man he’s ever met too. 

He feels lucky that Amy and Quyen understand his and Liam’s relationship. That the two of them full well understand and approve of them circling dates on calendars for them to have dinner together and maybe if they can spare the time, spending a night or two in a hotel room together. 

They don’t talk about how he’s an omega and Liam is an alpha. They certainly don’t talk about how Liam O’Brien is the only alpha to ever knot him — Liam vaguely knows this fact, he had told Liam that once years after the first time in passing — and how Liam, Quyen and Amy are the only people in the world who he’d voluntarily not wear scent blockers around. 

It’s easier not talking about it, so they just chose not to. 

Which might just be how they ended up here now, or well, how Sam ended up here. 

He’s been feeling funny for the past couple of days. Food not staying down, and things that he normally loves to eat are making him gag. There was a small part of his brain that whispered, “You weren’t on birth control the last time you and Liam slept together,” but the rest of him squashes that thought down. 

He’s not…

It’s probably just a stomach bug. 

A week passes, then two. 

(Sam can’t will himself to drink booze on Thursday night like he normally would. He refuses to think about what he might be, but an ever so small part of him says ‘what if?’)

The third-week hits and he still feels the same. Not bad necessarily, just tired and nauseous. 

He walks into the drug store with a mantra in the back of his head chanting that he’s not what he thinks. Male Omega pregnancies are rare. Like one percent of all male omegas can even get pregnant rare.

He’s not pregnant, this is all pointless, it’s just a stomach bug. 

He’s not pregnant he tells himself as he buys two pregnancy tests. He’s not pregnant he tells himself as he takes one that night, sitting on the toilet never gladder that the kids are asleep, and Q is out of town. 

He’s not pregnant he tells himself as the first test comes back positive and he rips open the package of the second. 

He’s not pregnant he tells himself as he takes the second test. He’s not pregnant he tells himself as the second one comes back positive again.

He paces back and forth, the tile of the bathroom cold underneath his feet. He goes back and forth muttering to himself that it’s just stress and overworking himself. Maybe he should take some time off. Yeah, he’s not pregnant. 

(He makes a doctor’s appointment with his omega specialist anyway)

(His doctor runs blood work a week or so after he took the pregnancy test and confirms that he is indeed pregnant.)

*

He should tell Quyen. He should tell Liam. He doesn’t tell anyone. 

Maybe it’s that he’s scared. Maybe it’s that he doesn’t want to think about it yet. Maybe it’s that he doesn’t want to tell his wife that he’s pregnant over the phone, maybe it’s that he doesn’t want to have to talk about that he’s an omega to people yet. 

He doesn’t tell anyone. 

He has a cluster of bottles that his doctor gave him for the health of the baby that he pretends aren’t lining his side of the sink and haven’t slowly been emptying since he bought them. He rightfully ignores his slowly growing stomach and the app that he downloaded on his phone, tucked away in a folder with other random apps.

(He downloads the app a week to the day after he visits the doctor while sitting in his car in the parking lot of his son’s school, waiting for him to be let out of class and he has fifteen minutes to kill. He enters his information and it tells him his baby is the size of a blueberry.)

(He thinks about that for the rest of the day, his hand resting on his stomach every time he has just a moment alone. It somehow makes it feel more real.)

He doesn’t tell anyone yet.

*

The next week, his chest is sore, and he curses the fact that when he steps out of the shower, he can start to see the ever so slightest of bump along his midsection. He still hasn’t told anyone yet and even though Quyen isn’t in the same country right now, he knows that she knows that something is wrong -- Liam has also been asking him if something is wrong the last couple of days too, but he’s been avoiding being alone with Liam since he took the first pregnancy test three weeks ago, so really that’s to be expected.

It’s been a long time since he went this long giving Liam the adult version of the silent treatment. The last time he went this long blowing Liam off with vague excuses of work and kids and texts of “I’ve just been swamped with work lately, sorry :( “was the first time Liam brought up knotting almost two decades ago. 

He doesn’t like ignoring Liam like this, but he doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t want to talk about it. 

(But hey, the baby is the size of a kidney bean now.)

Another week goes by and Q’s return date is starting to inch closer and closer. He’s tired and cranky. He’s still constantly nauseous, his chest aches like a bitch and really, he just wants to sleep. 

He hasn’t talked to Liam since Thursday and he’s just flat out miserable sitting on his back porch watching his kids play in the summer heat. He’s half asleep when a hand lands on his shoulder, he turns and Liam is standing there with his daughter on the older man’s hip, and her babbling to him how “Liam came to visit.”

Sam looks up to them mostly confused and pretty sure this is a vivid dream. He blinks up at Liam and asks, “What?”

Liam’s eyebrows furrow, setting little terminator down onto her feet and a worried look crossing his face, “Are you okay?”

Sam blinks up at him and is silent for a second. Liam moves closer, pressing his palm to his forehead and repeating himself. 

Sam blinks again and then whispers, “I’m tired,”

Liam pulls him to his feet and presses a kiss to his temple whispering, “Let's get you to bed then”

Liam guides him to bed and when he grumbles about dinner and the kids, Liam tells him not to worry. 

(He wakes up sometime later to Liam climbing into bed with him, Sam mumbles out something about the little ones and Liam whispers that they’re in bed. Sam falls right back to sleep)

(The next morning while Liam is in the shower, Sam checks his pregnancy app and it tells him that their baby is the size of a grape.)

*

Over the next week, Liam — well, he hovers. It’s not like they don’t normally filter in and out of each other’s houses, but the last couple of days it just feels like Liam is making more so of an effort to be at his house more often. It’s not that he doesn’t enjoy having Liam around and the extra help around the house, but he hasn’t told Liam yet. 

Him and Liam also haven’t talked about how he avoided the older man for multiple weeks. Liam asked and Sam answered with nothing more than he’s just been busy and not feeling well lately. 

It’s not an excuse that Liam believes, but one that he accepts.

Apart of him wonders if alphas just have an ‘oh my omega is pregnant’ radar, that just makes them instinctively know and a part of him wonders if Liam thinks he’s  _ really _ sick. Like sick with more than just a cold. It’s also getting close to the date circled on the calendar as Q’s return date and the rest of him wonders if Liam just wants more time with him before she comes back. 

He doesn’t know, he just gratefully thanks Liam for doing dishes and cooking breakfast. Maybe it’s the omega part of him that he’s spent 40 years ignoring any and all parts of being an omega are finally just now realizing that it does have some benefits. 

Maybe he just missed Liam after giving him the silent treatment for almost a month. 

Almost a week later, he gets a phone call from Amy and she bluntly asks him if he’s dying. Sam gets the distinct feeling that Liam might think that’s what’s happening with him and that’s why he’s hovering and constantly asking him if he’s okay. Sam shakes his head, feeling tears already starting to form — his brain curses the fact that he always feels like crying now — and then tells her no when he realizes she can’t hear him shaking his head. 

“It’s not that,” he says, then hesitates for a moment, “it’s temporary, I’ll get better,”

He’s definitely not helping his case in people thinking he’s  _ really _ sick, but he doesn’t know how to reassure her without telling her. 

“Have you told anyone what is going on?” She asks. 

Sam tells her no.

“Do you want to tell me if you feel like you can’t tell Liam or Q?” Amy asks. 

Sam hesitates, then says no.

“Will you tell someone? Just, you sound like you need to find someone to talk to.”

He tells her okay. 

(Sam stands in front of the mirror the next morning listening to Liam move around downstairs cooking breakfast. His hand hovers over his stomach and he’s — well he’s not exactly surprised by how his stomach is growing — but it’s still weird to see the ever-growing bump and his chest starting to develop more. He’s not going to really be able to hide it from Liam for very much longer. He checks his phone and their baby is the size of a strawberry.) 

*

Sam struggles trying to figure out who to tell. The only person who’d he’d even consider telling before his wife is Liam, and the only person he’d consider telling something to before Liam is Quyen. But right now, neither are an option for him. 

He doesn’t really know who else he’d consider telling. No one else at Critical Role knows he’s an omega and he doesn’t know if he really wants to have both of those conversations at the same time. 

Well, he’s not going to be able to hide it much longer so he's going to have to tell them soon. 

He settles on telling Laura. 

They get lunch together at a local place, halfway in between where Laura and Sam are working on that particular day. 

They settle catching up with one another and as they eat it goes silent for a minute then Sam says, “I’m an Omega.”

Laura freezes looking at Sam, then replies, “Did you just present? Sam, that’s a major thing to go through when your over forty,”

Sam shakes his head. He couldn’t imagine going through the change now, it was tough enough as it was when he was a teenager, “No, I’ve… I’ve pretty much always been an omega.”

Laura blinks, confused by this, “Is there a reason why you’re telling me now? If you’ve always been an omega?” 

Sam nods, then looks down at his food thinking about how to say it.

“It’s just, there’s something I need to talk about, I don’t know how to tell Liam and I don’t want to talk about it with Q over the phone and…” 

Laura drops her fork, “Are you dying, Sam? This sounds serious and...”

Sam shakes his head, “No, I’m pregnant.”

Laura lets out a soft noise of surprise, Sam is pretty sure he’s going to cry. Laura smiles and reaches out and squeezes his hand. 

He takes a deep breath and they start talking. 

(The two of them spend the better part of two hours talking with one another. Laura talking about her pregnancy and how she told Travis about it. Sam talks about being Omega and how he’s always, for the most part, ignored it. 

He talked about when he and Liam started as cycle buddies, then later when Liam claimed him as his omega, his fingers rubbing across his shoulder where Liam’s bite mark is hidden by his sweatshirt as he does.)

(That night he stands naked in the bathroom looking at himself in the mirror. He traces over the bite on his shoulder as he looks at his softly curving stomach and growing — well, breasts. 

The baby is the size of a Lime.)

Four days later Sam wakes up to get his kids ready for camp and Liam is already downstairs cooking breakfast for them. He kisses Liam good morning and Liam hands him a plate of food telling him he’ll drive the little ones to camp. 

Liam ushers them out the door a minute later and Sam is honestly grateful that Liam is doing this for him. He eats the plate that Liam made for him of eggs, potatoes, and bacon, then grumbles to himself that he’s still hungry. 

He digs threw the fridge looking for something suitable to eat, then the freezer when he finds nothing in the fridge. He settles with dropping a pair of frozen waffles into the toaster. He stands in front of the toaster as the waffles cook, rubbing along his stomach humming a song waiting. They pop a minute or so later and just as he’s taking the first bite of the syrup covered goodness, he hears the front door open and Liam’s voice rings through the house. 

He comes into the kitchen and when he sees Sam eating waffles his brow furrows — Sam knows this look on Liam. He’s seen it plenty of times on Liam’s face, more so when they were younger and still figuring out their dynamic with each other. Sam refers to it as Liam’s ‘Am I a bad alpha’ face.

Sam’s never once, despite everything and his complicated feelings about being an omega, thought that Liam was a bad alpha. When they were younger, Sam would bitch about doing omega things. He would protest at kneeling; he would pout at Liam trying to do alpha things complaining to him to stop. He’s been trying to be better about it, but sometimes he still forgets that Liam isn’t just any alpha. 

When they were younger Sam would buy Liam cheesy “World’s Best Alpha” mugs and keychains just as a reminder and a sort of apology for being a bitch.

Maybe he hasn’t been the best Omega the last couple of weeks, or well, ever. 

Liam drops his keys and travel mug onto the counter and presses a kiss into Sam’s hair before whispering, “Did you not like what I made you?”

Sam can practically hear the frown in Liam’s voice, so he turns and pulls Liam down into a proper kiss. His lips sticky with syrup and Liam’s mouth tastes like coffee, before saying back into his mouth, “Your breakfast was delicious. I was just still hungry.”

Liam kisses him again then pulls away to start washing dishes. Sam munches on the rest of his waffles watching Liam with his sleeves pushed up to his elbows, start to clean up from breakfast. 

Liam is almost done with the dishes when Sam breaks the silence saying, “I think I’m ready to talk about what’s been going on with me.”

Sam can see Liam practically freeze before turning off the water and turning back to Sam. He motions Liam closer and Sam pulls him, so the older man is standing between his legs. 

He opens his mouth to say it, then freezes himself. He doesn’t know how to say it. Liam’s fingers comb threw his curls as he whispers, “Take your time, Sammy”

He can’t form the words. They’re right there on the tip of his tongue, but they won’t form. He just leans forward into Liam and breaths in his scent trying to figure out how to say it. 

A minute passes then two and then another and Liam asks, “Do you want to show me, instead of telling me?”

Sam blinks into Liam’s chest and nods, pulling himself to his feet and dragging Liam up the stairs towards the bedroom. 

Liam’s probably expecting to be handed paperwork from a doctor, a “You have X condition, here are the symptoms” pamphlet. Instead, he pushes Liam down on the foot of the bed and pulls his shirt off. Liam makes a confused sound as Sam starts to strip, the words “Now is not the time for …” escaping from his mouth before he looks at Sam standing shirtless in front of him. 

Liam’s eyes go soft and then Sam snaps his own shut. He hears Liam say, “oh Sam,” than a hand on his hip pulling him closer.

Sam goes easily towards him. 

Sam can feel tears start to form and he just doesn’t know what to say. It’s been a long time since they’ve talked about their dynamics. They  _ should  _ probably talk about it more often, and maybe the fact that they don’t is what leads them here now. With Sam scared out of his mind to talk about it and telling Liam that he’s pregnant after nearly a full month of knowing that he is. 

Liam stands the second that the tears start to fall and pulls him into a hug as Sam sobs out, “I’m pregnant.”

Liam’s rough hands rub along his back and as he sobs into him, Liam just whispers it’s okay over and over again. 

(Sam calms down eventually, Liam pulling him into the bed and letting him sob into his chest. Eventually, wrapped up into each other he tells Liam that he’s 13 — no, 14 weeks today — pregnant. Liam’s breath catches, but he doesn’t say anything. 

Liam’s palm spreads over his belly and he pulls him into a kiss. 

For every doubt that Sam has Liam tells him that they’ll figure it out. Every voice of doubt and fear that washes into the air from Sam, Liam presses a kiss into his skin soothing his fears away. 

Liam doesn’t have all the answers — and to be fair, he didn’t expect Liam to have them all and to magically fix all of his fears — but instead, Liam presses kisses into his skin and whispering words of encouragement.)

(Sam is getting dressed to pick up his kids from day camp a few hours later when Liam smiles at him and says, “Did you know our baby is the size of a plum?”

Sam laughs, enjoying the smile and bubble of happiness radiating from Liam in this moment of bliss between them.)

A week later, Sam sits by the baggage claim of LAX waiting for Quyen. He’s idly scrolling through twitter with one eye when he sees Q walking in his direction. They catch eyes and she smiles big and bright. They crash into each other and Sam kisses her. 

Man, he’s missed her so much. 

They go to lunch together just because they can and have some time to kill before they get to pick the kids up — Sam knows that’s she’s itching to see them, but he needs to talk to her first. 

Halfway through lunch, Sam says, “I have something important I need to tell you.”

“Is it why you’ve been acting funny the last couple of weeks?” She asks and Sam nods. 

Sam bites his lip and lets out a deep breath, “I’m pregnant.” Is all he says. 

Quyen blinks a couple of times and she whispers, “oh?”

Sam nods. 

“Is it Liam’s?” 

Sam chokes out a wet laugh, already feeling the tears forming in his eyes, “Of course,”

“Oh, Sam,” he blinks and she’s kneeling next to him, “We’ll figure everything out okay?”

He nods. 

“Besides, I’ve always thought that you and Liam would have the most adorable of children.” She smiles then continues, “Well, maybe not as cute as our kids,” 

Sam chuckles and she presses a kiss to his lips before returning to her seat, “Besides, sometimes accidents lead to fantastic things.”

Sam blinks then smiles at her, he doesn’t know how he ended up with such an amazing woman. 

(On the ride to pick up their kids Quyen steals his phone as he drives. He shakes his head and figures she’s going to look at the pictures that he’s taken over the last month or so as he drives.

Instead, a couple of minutes later she says excitedly, “The baby is the size of a lemon!” 

Sam shakes his head with a smile on his face. At the next red light, he leans over the center console and gives her a kiss. He’s happy to have her back home again.)

Liam still continues to, well, hover. 

It’s not that he minds having Liam around more, but it’s just weird. He’s never, in the almost twenty years that they’ve known each other seen Liam as much as he has in the last two weeks. It’s not that he doesn’t want Liam around. It’s just… he doesn’t know why Liam is suddenly somehow hovering more than he already was. 

He asks Amy about it one day over lunch. 

She smiles and replies back, “I think part of it is that this is the first summer that both kids are at sleep away camp and part of it is that he’s never really had the chance to really be your alpha before.”

“Was he like this when you were pregnant?” He asks shoving another French fry into his mouth and pointedly ignoring the part about Liam acting like his alpha.

She laughs and nods, “Especially the first time.” A beat. “Maybe you should just let Liam hover. Sam, I know you don’t particularly like being an omega, but I don’t think Liam is going to like you pushing him away right now.”

Sam knows this. His doctor had told him at his last check-in appointment that he might notice his alpha getting “more protective, more hovering and eager to do things for you over the next couple of weeks”. 

He knows from his ABO classes from when he was much younger that with mated pairs alphas are way more likely to want to hover, provide and protect when their omega is pregnant. 

And he most definitely knows that he’s never really let Liam be his alpha before. Sure, they share cycles and he has a claiming mark on his shoulder, but he’s never let him do Alpha tm  things and he’s never really done omega things back. 

That’s just how they’ve always been. Or well, how Sam has always made sure they’ve been. 

When they were much younger, he’d protest every time Liam tried to hand feed him — he was in heat, not helpless—so Liam doesn’t try anymore. He’s never been the type to nest before — and that’s fine, not all omega’s like to build nests for their heats — but he’s always turned his nose up when Liam suggested it. 

He knows deep down that he’s not a good omega. He always hesitates to bare his neck; he always hesitates to give Liam complete control. Hell, there are people he’s known for almost half of his life who he has never told that he’s an omega too. People that he considers his family who don’t know. 

“I can talk to Liam about it if it’s bothering you?” She asks and Sam shakes his head. 

He hesitates before answering in a small voice, “I kinda like it,”

Amy smiles, the subject drops and they continue on with lunch. 

(Later that day, Sam is standing in the food store when he passes a stand of peaches. He picks one up and realizes that his and Liam’s baby is this big. He stands there for longer than he’s willing to admit thinking about that.)

Over the next couple of days, he and Liam start telling people about the pregnancy. First, they have a family dinner in Liam and Amy’s dining room, the eight of them eating together and telling their kids that they’re going to have a little brother or sister. 

Then their parents. 

Then finally the rest of the cast, which arguably is the hardest. They don’t know he’s an omega. They don’t know that he and Liam are mated. It’s just, exhausting. 

(Sam crashes into bed, Amy and Q laughing at his dramatics. Liam rubs along his back and he turns to face him, “Can you get me strawberries?” 

Liam nods and Sam moves to the head of the bed crawling between the two ladies. Five minutes later, Liam comes back and holds a bowl of strawberries out to him. 

Sam hesitates for a minute, then opens his mouth. 

Liam hesitates too. 

Both ladies laugh, and Amy says, “The man’s waiting.”

Liam picks up a strawberry with his fingers and holds it out towards Sam. He wraps his lips around Liam’s fingers and closes his eyes at the taste of Liam and strawberries. He slowly lets Liam feed him the rest of the bowl.

It’s nice after a long hard day to be taken care of by his alpha and surrounded by part of his family. It’s also really nice to watch Liam’s eyes grow dark and the scent of Liam’s arousal filling the room.)

(Later with the four of them piled into bed together under the sheets, Sam will read from his phone a palm spread across his belly, “Our baby is the size of an orange.”)

“I think that having boobs is the worst part of pregnancy so far,” Sam says his head resting on the kitchen counter as Liam makes lunch. The kids are back in school and the two of them have just gotten back from Sam’s doctor’s appointment. 

“I don’t mind so much,” Liam says with a smirk, “But if they’re bothering you so much you should take the advice of the nurse and get a bra.”

“Because,” he says crossing his arms over his chest and complaining into the counter. 

“Because?” Sam lifts his head and pouts at Liam, who takes a step towards him and pulls him into a hug, his fingers rubbing along his back. 

“Do you think it would help?” He whispers into Liam’s chest.

“Do you think it will?” Liam asks and as much as Sam hates to say it, he thinks it will. 

(Q takes him bra shopping over the weekend, and he gets three different ones. The second he puts one on, his chest feels ten times lighter.)

(Sitting in the food court of the mall he checks the app. Their baby is the size of an avocado and not only that it says that it is getting close to the point where he’ll start feeling the baby move.)

He’s in the studio directing for one of the shows he works on the first time he feels the baby move. It’s slight, just a flutter in his stomach. 

He misses it the first time. 

The second time it happens he freezes, his hand landing on his stomach. 

The flutter happens again a moment later and Sam feels himself start to tear up. 

(The baby is now the size of a pomegranate and Sam feels like time is passing too fast.)

Time passes. 

Sam’s baby bump is getting harder and harder to hide. 

Matt asks him if they’re going to tell the community soon. 

They don’t know. They need to figure it out. 

Sam doesn’t know. Liam says it’s up to him. Q and Amy say the same thing. 

(The baby is the size of an artichoke.)

“What if I make it an ad?” Sam asks.

“Make what part of an ad?”

“That I’m a pregnant omega.”

“I’m pretty sure if you did the fans would think it’s a bit,” Liam says dragging Sam back down into the bed. Sam lets out a sigh, letting his face fall into Liam’s chest. “What if you just wear a t-shirt that says, ‘Baby Daddy’ like Laura’s Mama Bear shirt.”

“Wouldn’t I be the Baby Mama?” 

(In the end, Sam and Liam sit down to make a video. They sit on the couch on the Talks set talking about them. It ends up being a five-minute video that’s just them talking about how they’ve been mated for fifteen years, Sam’s an omega and he’s pregnant. They play it at break Thursday and Liam after the break is over and after Matt announces the winner of the giveaway, Liam smiles and hands Sam a gift bag with a t-shirt that says, “Baby Mama”.)

(Their baby is the size of a mango.)

Sam has another ultrasound. Liam holds his hand as they listen to the soft heartbeat of the baby and the doctor tells them that they’re expecting a little girl. 

(She’s the size of a banana now.)

One of the things the doctor mentions is that in the upcoming weeks, he might feel an increased urge to nest, as well as an increased sex drive and might feel anxious if he and Liam are apart for too long. 

All three hit him like a ton of bricks less than a week later. 

He has the day off and was planning on sleeping until Q and the kids returned home that night. The house is empty, and Sam doesn’t last even an hour in bed before he decides that he needs more blankets. 

He trudges around the house pulling every blanket that doesn’t belong to one of his kids into his and Q’s bed. He moves the blankets around, and he decides that he definitely needs more of them. He furrows his brow and goes looking for pillows. 

He lugs the pillows to the bedroom and tries to arrange them but it’s not right either. Sam falls into the bed and it’s not right. 

He calls Liam, whose probably at the Critical Role studios right now. They had a meeting about an art book with a publisher this morning that Sam wasn’t required to be at. Liam picks up on the third ring. 

Before he can even say hello, Sam says, “The baby wants you to bring me all the blankets and pillows in your house,” 

Liam is silent for a moment and he hears rustling then Liam says, “blankets and pillows?” Sam nods then remembers that Liam can’t see and agrees. “Don’t you have blankets and pillows at home?” 

“They aren’t right, Liam.” Sam can’t really explain it past that. Somewhere deep down he knows that’s he’s nesting and what’s missing is Liam’s scent, but he can’t figure out how to say that. He doesn’t really understand fully what he needs. 

Liam says he’ll be there in an hour. 

An hour and a half later, Liam shows up with a trunk full of blankets and pillows. The two of them carry them up to the bedroom and Sam adds them to his horde, collapsing back into the nest of blankets and pillows and the only thing that runs through his mind is that it’s perfect. 

He drags Liam down into his nest and claims a cuddle buddy for a nap. 

A couple of hours later, Liam wakes him up telling him that he needs to get ready for talks. Sam grumbles but let’s Liam go take a shower. While he’s in the shower, Sam steals his shirt adding it to his hoard and handing Liam one of the flannels from his closet when he asks where his shirt went. 

(Someone tweets out, “I’m pretty sure Liam is wearing one of Sam’s shirts” in the middle of talks and the next morning Liam replies with a picture of Sam sitting in the middle of a horde of pillows and blankets frowning at the camera. It’s captioned, ‘Good eye. I’m married to a dragon and have no more clothes of my own it seems’)

(Their little girl is the size of an endive.)

Sam is sitting in a rocking chair watching Liam and the ladies argue about putting together a crib when he feels the baby kick for the first time. Amy is the closest, so he grabs her by the hand and drags it to his stomach. 

She makes a sound of protest, then the baby kicks again and she makes a soft “oh” sound. Amy motions Liam and Q over, and Quyen, then Liam feels the faint kicks of the baby moving. 

They don’t get much else done in the nursery that day. 

(Liam wants to name her Lexi; Sam thinks they should name her Emma and both of their daughters are convinced the little girl should be named Blaire.)

(She’s the size of a coconut and Sam has spent the last week singing ‘ _ you put the lime in the coconut and shake it all up’  _ under his breath.)

Sam is five months pregnant now and he can’t believe how fast it’s gone by. 

(The two boys decided that the baby should be named Carly and the younger of the girls changed her vote to Anna. It’s also been decided that they’re not allowed to talk about baby names over dinner.)

(She’s the size of a grapefruit now.)

Sam’s grown more accustomed to his chest and figured out just how much fun they can be. 

The back and hip pain is his new least favorite part by far. 

(She’s the size of a cantaloupe.)

Sam was enjoying no longer being constantly tired while it lasted. Now the baby has decided that he shouldn’t sleep at all. 

He can’t get comfortable and has to pee every ten minutes and the little girl won’t stay still for a minute. 

He looks at his phone while he stands in the bathroom the little girl kicking as he splashed water on his face. It’s 2:12 am. 

He stands there for a moment, and a round of kicks washing over him. He’s sore and tired and wants nothing more than to sleep. 

After a minute, Liam appears behind him. The older man wraps his arms around his waist, palms rubbing at his bump. Into his neck, Liam whispers, “Come back to bed, Sammy.”

Sam grumbles and says, “Our daughter hates me.” Just as he says it, she kicks against Liam’s palm. Liam chuckles and presses a kiss along his neck, his beard is rough against his skin and Sam hums, then lets out a yawn. 

Liam smiles and gives him a proper kiss, moving him back into bed with their two wives.

(When Sam continues to grumble about pain and comfortableness, Liam’s fingers dig into his muscles soothing away the discomfort. Sam falls back to sleep in relative comfort for the first time in a couple of days.)

(She’s as big as a cauliflower now.)

Sam gets hit hard with pregnancy brain. Everything is just sore, and he can’t find anything. First, it’s his phone, then his keys. Then his pen and then he gets home and Amy from her place sitting at the kitchen table helping the kids with homework says, “Are you skipping CR tonight?” 

Sam blinks. Once then twice then turns around and walks back to his car. 

(The baby is the size of a head of kale.)

They have a convention two and a half hours away from LA, Sam is tired but desperately wants to go. His doctor says as long as he doesn’t overexert himself and isn’t on his feet too much, he should be fine. 

“One last hurrah before we’re parents?”

“We’re already parents, Sam.”

“One last hurrah before I give birth then.”

Sam has a fun weekend and he’s pretty sure Liam didn’t leave his side for more than a handful of minutes. Which is honestly kind of impressive considering how many things they both needed to do. 

(They spend the car ride back talking about names for the little girl, Sam sitting in the passenger seat rubbing his bump. They keep throwing names back and forth and keep coming up with nothing.)

(They’re just crossing back into Los Angeles when Sam remembers he hasn’t checked his app yet. She’s now the size of a head of lettuce.)

He’s made it to the third trimester and all Sam wants is to sleep. 

(He has a baby the size of an eggplant in him, it’s the least he deserves.)

He starts a mental counter after the third time that he gets up to pee one Thursday. Ticking off another mark every time he stands up to go to the bathroom. 

He ends the night at 7 trips and considers it a win. 

(The baby is the size of an acorn squash and she weighs almost 3 pounds according to his app.)

Sam has discovered that 30 weeks is the magic number for old ladies and strangers to comment on his belly and give him very unneeded advice about childcare everywhere he goes. He could have all four of the kids with him in the grocery store and someone will still stop him to tell him some magic family secret to get babies to sleep. 

In the last three days, he’s gotten no less than a dozen comments about how he should count his blessings that he was able to carry and just how rare and hard male pregnancies are. 

(He’s also gotten multiple comments about how Male Omega Pregnancy is a sin, but he’d much rather ignore those than dwell on them for much longer or he might actually start believing what their preaching.)

(The little girl is now the size of a zucchini.)

Liam and Amy have family in town, so them and their kids are back at their house for the time being. Sam can’t remember the last night they didn’t all spend together, and neither can Q. 

He climbs into bed surrounded by pillows and blankets and Q, but something isn’t right. He grumbles trying to get comfortable and failing miserably. 

Sam makes it until one am before he pulls himself out of bed and starts pulling on pants.

“Are you okay?” Q asks and god bless her patience because she’s not mad or complaining that he woke her up. Just rubbing her eyes, confused. 

Sam hesitates, then says, “I need Liam,”

He can’t explain it. But every piece of him is screaming for Liam. 

She just nods, grumbling something about not waking up the kids before turning back over to go to sleep. 

Fifteen minutes later he’s opening the door to Liam and Amy’s house. He pushes the door open and is met face to face with Liam who is holding a sneaker in one hand and wearing the other. 

The shoe drops to the ground and Liam steps forward wrapping Sam into a hug. 

Liam drags him to bed and Amy grumbles out, “I thought you were going to Sam and Q’s?”

Liam presses a kiss to her lips and whispers back, “Sam found me first,”

(They have a long conversation about living arrangements after that.)

(The baby is the size of a bundle of asparagus.)

They have lunch with Matt one afternoon. They spend most of the meal talking about how they’re going to explain Nott and Caleb missing a few weeks for their baby leave. 

Matt lays out the plan explaining to them what’s going to happen, and they nod along to his story. He gives them options for different things that could be happening and narratively make sense for the story. 

It’s weird to think about missing an extended period from the show. This campaign Liam’s only missed one episode and Sam hasn’t missed any yet. 

They have a few more weeks before the baby is due — “2 months tomorrow, Matty,” Sam says to him with a smirk — and everything is now about preparation and Sam might be low key freaking out. 

It’s fine. Everything is going to be fine. 

(After lunch is over, Sam grabs Matt and lets him feel the little girl kicking against the curve of his stomach, Matt smiles and Sam says back “She a whole squash big,” returning a toothy grin.)

Sam is lying in bed on top of the covers in nothing but a pair of boxers battling his body’s decision to now be constantly hot. Amy is lying next to him under the covers with a book in her lap, as Q and Liam move around them folding laundry. 

“What about Mary?” Amy says flipping to a new page. 

“Mmm,” Sam hums, “What else?”

“Miranda? Madeline?” Another flip of the page of the baby book. 

“Miranda isn’t terrible?” Liam says opening a draw to the dresser and stacking clothes inside. 

“Isn’t terrible is exactly what we should shoot for in a name,” Sam says with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“Maria?” Sam closes his eyes and listens to Amy list off a few more names from the book. 

They haven’t gotten any closer to figuring out a name. 

(The still nameless baby girl is as big as a bundle of celery.)

His pregnancy app this week told him that he needs to pack a hospital bag and that singing to the baby might make her less restless in his belly. 

He starts singing lullabies under his breath as he does things work-related and around the house. 

(It’s really weird to think that she can hear him as he sings to her whatever comes to his mind. She can hear him and Liam and their ladies and the kids. She can hear him singing to her and Laura whispering to him mid-game. It’s weird.)

(She still doesn’t have a name and is as big as a butternut squash.)

“We’re gonna have to figure out a name for her eventually,” Liam says picking up toys from the floor as Sam folds clothes sitting on the couch with his feet on the coffee table. 

“I know, it’s just…” he drops a folded shirt into the pile with the rest, “None of them sound right for her,”

The toys clunk into the toy chest as Liam drops them in the wooden box, “I know, Sammy, I know.” Liam comes and drops down next to him, careful not to knock over the folded clothes, “But we’re running out of time.”

Sam hums. He has five weeks until his due date. They are running out of time for this debate. They’re running out of time for a lot of things.

“We’ll figure it out before I go into labor. I promise,”

Liam’s hand rubs across his belly and Sam hums, closing his eyes and letting Liam’s touch sooth him. 

(Their little girl is the size of a pineapple.)

Sam’s sitting in the rocking chair the nursery, his hand slowly rubbing along the curve of his belly. It looks like a proper nursery now, a crib and painted walls and a mobile with pink stars and clouds and a purple moon hanging above it. 

It feels real now. It’s weird. 

Q is the one who finds him. 

“Hi, Sam?” He turns to see her standing in the doorway, “What’s up?”

He turns to her and whispers, “I’m having a  _ baby” _

Q laughs saying, “yeah, you are.”

Sam smiles and whispers it again. 

“Only a few more weeks of being pregnant,” she said with a smile. Sam pushes himself to his feet and closes the distance between the two of them.

He kisses her and says eyes wide and panic lacing threw his voice, “She’s almost fully cooked and we still don't have a name for her yet,”

Q laughs, patting him on the cheek, “We’ll figure it out,”

(She’s the size of a papaya.)

They still don’t have a name and Sam has decided that he needs to clean. Logically, he knows that it’s just a part of nesting and being pregnant. He knows that the house is clean and that it’s fine. 

His brain says ‘no, clean house’. 

Everyone else in the house has decided that he shouldn’t. 

Which is how he ends up standing across from Liam, his arms over his chest and pouting as Liam tells him that he should get off of his feet. They stand there for a minute in a stalemate of watching each other, vacuum in between them and waiting for the other to crack. 

“I’m going to vacuum,” Sam says after a moment and Liam frowns.

“What if I vacuum and you make sure I do it right?”

Sam frowns back.

“You’re going to complain that your back hurts later.”

Sam thinks about it for a second, pouts then lets Liam have the vacuum. 

(She’s as big as a head of romaine lettuce.)

Another week goes by and Sam is ready to not be pregnant. 

His hips hurt like hell and he just wants to sleep. 

(They don’t have a name yet, so maybe it’s a blessing in disguise that she’s still cooking.)

(His app says that she’s as big as a winter melon now and the best advice his app has for him this week is to chill out.)

Sam drops down next to Liam in bed and says, “Can we have sex?”

Liam sputters for a second then says, “What?”

Sam holds up his phone, still open to his pregnancy app and reads off, “You might be wondering about some natural ways to induce labor. We recommend long walks and having sex.” 

Liam blinks a couple of times taking the phone from Sam’s hand, looking down at it for a second, then says, “You want to have sex to induce labor?”

Sam nods like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, there isn’t anyone else home and he wants the baby out of him. Also, sex is fun. Might as well have some fun before their on-baby duty with the still yet to be named baby. 

Liam laughs shaking his head and pulling him into a kiss. 

(She doesn’t have a name yet, but she’s the size of a pumpkin now and his official due date is less than a week away.)

The due date comes and goes. 

(She’s the size of a watermelon and every time someone asks if he’s okay he not so nicely tells them to try carrying a full-sized watermelon in their stomach.)

(Needless to say, he can’t wait to not be pregnant anymore.)

She’s born after 16 hours of labor. She cries when she meets air for the first time. She screams and she has a mop of blonde hair and Sam cries when she’s put into his arms. 

Liam sits down on the bed next to him smiling, almost in tears too. Sam looks over to him and whispers, “We made her.”

Liam laughs, looking at their daughter and then up at Sam, “We made her.”

(She doesn’t have a name yet. She won’t have one for another day or so. The two of them and their wives talking it over. Her name is Cassandra Riegel-O’Brien.)

(Years later, she has bouncy blonde curls, Liam’s nose, and Sam’s smile.)

(For now, Cassandra Riegel-O’Brien is the size of a newborn baby.)

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and Comments are always cool.


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